Shepherd has crafted a gripping, multi-faceted debut here, a dystopic future novel that goes well past the expectations of the genre. I admired the textual experimentation of this measured book, as various symbols, fonts, and perspectives try to getShepherd has crafted a gripping, multi-faceted debut here, a dystopic future novel that goes well past the expectations of the genre. I admired the textual experimentation of this measured book, as various symbols, fonts, and perspectives try to get across the lives of the characters, who mix emotional heft with sudden, rapid action. The leads, Ory and Max, are wonderfully drawn and make for an excellent emotional core.

In this world, if someone's shadow disappears, they will soon be consigned to forgetting all that they knew, turning into mysterious, frightening figures. The book opens with Max losing her shadow after two years of hiding with her partner Ory, and Ory desperately trying to enact a system of rules to protect her. This Robinson Crusoe section is wonderful, but after the two are, inevitably, separated, they each wind their way through a strange America that seems totally understood by Shepherd. This is an iceberg book whose logic and world-building are apparent at all times. There are many supporting characters who play into the action and exposition, and I admired the ambition of this book for jumping into so many different voices and perspectives until everything collapses together at the finale.

In its control and logic, it reminded me of Auster's "In The Country of Last Things," and St John Mandel's "Station Eleven." Most of all, unlike some books of this ilk, the author's talent on the line-level invested its characters with real urgency and feeling. More than the global span or the unusual premise, the prose will stick with me:

"I’m not ready. I’m not ready, I’m not ready, I’m not ready. I refuse to forget. It took all of me, but I refuse to let it have the last thing,which is you. Ory. I remember you. I remember your name. I remember I touched your face, on your eyebrow above your scar; I remember a football; I remember night and a mountain; I remember you gave me this speaking machine, but I don’t know why; I remember a darkroom, and writing numbered rules by candlelight, and you cried—why did you cry?"...more

I came to this slim novella through Maggie Nelson, who recommends it in RED PARTS. It is the story of Handke's mother's suicide, and his rapid attempts to capture it and her life through writing. Handke is a strange, wonderful writer and I raced throI came to this slim novella through Maggie Nelson, who recommends it in RED PARTS. It is the story of Handke's mother's suicide, and his rapid attempts to capture it and her life through writing. Handke is a strange, wonderful writer and I raced through the early part of this with pleasure, as he constructed a profile of his mother's life in Germany before her stagnancy set in. (I was particularly interested in how backgrounded WW2 was - Hitler, just a voice on the radio.)

The writing about her death was beautiful as well, and strongly reminiscent of that magic scene in THE ARGONAUTS with Harry and his mother. Handke's relief, and the odd love that explodes out of him when alone with his mother's body, was touching and gratifying. And yet, for all that I liked, there are major holes in this work (the absent father; the step-father's abuse; some sort of compassion for his mother), and I found myself dragging through the middle third. What I was expecting to be a one day read took about a week, and though I think A.S.B.D. is pedagogically fascinating and of great use to writers, it struck me as something of a missed opportunity....more

This is, somehow, my fourth Iris Murdoch novel in as many months, and some of her tendencies have become apparent. Here too we have a foppish, marginally asexual middle aged man who experiences a not-so-good awakening; we have a third act tragedy invThis is, somehow, my fourth Iris Murdoch novel in as many months, and some of her tendencies have become apparent. Here too we have a foppish, marginally asexual middle aged man who experiences a not-so-good awakening; we have a third act tragedy involving a supporting character; we have a bit character who scarcely ever appears but is mentioned frequently to give the illusion of time passing; we have philosophic departures into the nature of love; we have a queer supporting man who willingly becomes a butler-figure for sadomasochistic reasons; we have a love pentagram.

Fortunately, I love all these things, and so I love Iris Murdoch. THE BLACK PRINCE deviates from the form in a few ways - the narrative is a bit more nasty and sad (cruel depictions of middle-aged women abound, the philosophic sections are more separated), and there is immediate doubt given as to the reliability of the protagonist. Bradley Pearson, a failed author with a rival/best friend named Arnold. Bradley "writes the book" from an indeterminate location in space and time, and a sequence of letters at the end call into doubt swaths of the narrative.

The action starts with delay. Bradley keeps trying to get out of London to write his long delayed novel and keeps getting held back. Murdoch novels work like stages - the primary locations are always heavily permeable, with frequent, comedic entrances that add complications. There are numerous candidates for Bradley's love: his ex-wife is back in town and single; Arnold's wife likes him; Arnold likes Bradley's ex-wife; Bradley's ex-wife's brother likes him; Arnold's daughter likes him; his sister likes no one but is mucking everything up; everyone thinks Bradley and Arnold secretly like each other. Complexity stacks. Oh, she writes this kind of thing so well! And with Murdoch, there is always a hook. This one happens very late, almost exactly halfway through the novel, and from there on it catches fire, a thrilling novella that I won't spoil. Look at the writing when Bradley does fall in love, the prose is so pyrotechnic but simultaneously makes fun of him:

"But nothing really had prepared me for this blow. And it was a BLOW, I was felled by it physically. I felt as if my stomach had been shot away, leaving a gaping hole. My knees dissolved, I could not stand up, I shuddered and trembled all over, my teeth chattered. My face felt as if it had become waxen and some huge strange weirdly smiling mask had been imprinted upon it, I had become some sort of god. I lay there with my nose stuck into the black wool of the rug and the toes of my shoes making little ellipses on the carpet as I shook with possession. Of course I was sexually excited, but what I felt transcended mere lust to such a degree that although I could vividly sense my afflicted body I also felt totally alienated and changed and practically disincarnate."

Wow! There is a sequence of vomiting in the opera shortly after this that is one of the funnier things I can remember reading. I like BLACK PRINCE better than THE BELL and not as much as SEVERED HEAD or THE SEA, THE SEA. One needs to trust that Murdoch is both hilarious and wicked to stick with this one (which is why I think SEVERED HEAD makes the best gateway drug). I read it slowly and quickly at once; high praise....more

A more direct Nelson than I'm used to, as she uses her characteristic analytic prose to discuss the trial of her aunt's murderer, the dissolution of a treasured relationship, and the death of her father. Much is fascinating here (though Nelson doesn'A more direct Nelson than I'm used to, as she uses her characteristic analytic prose to discuss the trial of her aunt's murderer, the dissolution of a treasured relationship, and the death of her father. Much is fascinating here (though Nelson doesn't NEED an interesting subject to write interestingly, and in some ways I like her best when she makes small details sing). The court-case, shown in graphic, disturbing detail, takes place in 2005, but her aunt was murdered in 1969. Nelson is so intimately involved because she has just released a book of poetry that had information that police didn't know. This allows for examinations of time related to grief, inherited loss (Nelson never knew her aunt), and the way art can interplay with the brutality of life. All of this is very Nelson.

This book preceded her more fractured autobiographical books (BLUETS, THE ARGONAUTS), and I think it might make an ideal gateway drug for those who are interested in her stylings. The death of her father and her sister's rebellious reaction is mentioned often in the later works, and I somewhat regret not reading her consecutively. On the other hand, this is the weakest of the three books. The court case, though interesting, doesn't quite crescendo, since Nelson doesn't learn the answer to the most intriguing question (why was there a drop of a 4 year old's blood on her aunt's body?). This is not her fault, of course, but the narrative is set up around this question, which is dropped.

The writing about her family is accomplished and good, and I especially enjoyed how she treated her break-up. There's a marvelous scene in which she lies on the railway tracks on a wintry night, and proceeds to detail other times she went to the ground. It is also often very funny - the constant presence of television cameras lets her engage with the ludicrous role of media in trauma. This is the birth of a style that I love, and for that alone it's worth reading, but it's the unusual book that I would recommend to either true crime fans or Nelson lovers. In straddling that line, a tiny bit is lost, but it's also easy to see why THE RED PARTS made such a stir....more

Preview — The Red Parts
by Maggie Nelson

I enjoyed this novel, the story of a high-school Ibsen teacher who has a minor, ignored breakthrough that leads to breakdown, but I'm surprised that Solstad's publishers chose S + D as his English language debut. Though perhaps if I hadn't recently rI enjoyed this novel, the story of a high-school Ibsen teacher who has a minor, ignored breakthrough that leads to breakdown, but I'm surprised that Solstad's publishers chose S + D as his English language debut. Though perhaps if I hadn't recently read both T. SINGER and ARMAND V, I would have been more surprised by his characteristic style - lengthy single-segment subplots, those recursive sentences, thrilling literary digression. With these known to me, I was disappointed to find Elias a willfully invisible lead.

The book soars when Elias's unusual relationship with his wife (I don't want to spoil it) is delved into, and the beginning, the manic Ibsen lecture, is wonderful. Unfortunately, I found myself identifying pretty hard w/ the odd desperation that strikes a teacher when they are on the track of something they haven't yet thought of and the students don't notice. The theme of the novel - the need for an interlocutor and the pain when there is none to be found - was most effective here. But once Ibsen vanishes and the cover umbrella is, inevitably, broken, the action drags.

My big problem: the scene I most hoped to see was denied. I am all for abrupt endings - I think of Newland Archer on that bench more than any scene in literature. But broken promises? Those are a bit tougher to take. It's not that I didn't like SHYNESS AND DIGNITY, but now that I know what Solstad is capable of, I'd recommend starting elsewhere....more

I love this book and will be shouting about it from the rooftops - it's a modernization of the picaresque form, as our lead, number zero, and his dog, travels randomly for three years sending letters to a series of numbers that no one replies to. It'I love this book and will be shouting about it from the rooftops - it's a modernization of the picaresque form, as our lead, number zero, and his dog, travels randomly for three years sending letters to a series of numbers that no one replies to. It's a poignant, funny, weird, thoroughly original read, and it sticks the landing too. I don't want to summarize the plot, because every bit surprised me. This is a novel of rules, and it introduces them, follows them and breaks them in ways that maximize pleasure.

"That's why I, when the day is over, settle down in a motel or an inn and write a letter before I do anything else. Washing up, eating, and resting come later. If I wash up or eat, I feel as though the day's worth of feelings goes down the drain and the esophagus altogether. The drain and the esophagus are places unknown to me. All I know is that they are dark, smelly, black, and long. I don't want to send my travels down to such places.

Letters, however, are all right. At least I know better than anyone the route through which letters travel. Better yet, if the address is correct, the route is neither dark nor smelly. So because I must write a letter as soon as I arrive, the motels or inns where I stay are always places of letters for me. And for me, letters are daily necessities."...more

Preview — No One Writes Back
by Eun-Jin Jang

Connu Reads
— 34 members
— last activity Sep 25, 2013 01:14PM
A place to discover and discuss talented new writers. On our mobile app and website, we feature a few original short stories a week, along with audio;A place to discover and discuss talented new writers. On our mobile app and website, we feature a few original short stories a week, along with audio; find your favorite writers and read their recommendations. Then join us here to continue the conversation on what makes these stories and their tellers great. ...more

Random Books Monthly Book Club
— 185 members
— last activity Aug 02, 2017 06:55PM
A monthly book club where we read a variety of books. Older books, newer books, old favorites, under hyped books, etc. Basically, we just read whateveA monthly book club where we read a variety of books. Older books, newer books, old favorites, under hyped books, etc.
Basically, we just read whatever the hell we want.
Hosted by:
Dylanthereader5: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxpHOP-SCTA0bQ7GZ3fLI0Q
TheAwkwardBookWorm: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCferU-BCL2dlFjWdD0rS75Q...more

Women and Men
— 141 members
— last activity Mar 13, 2018 01:09PM
Women and Men began as a reading group for Joseph McElroy's masterpiece. It has developed into All Things McElroy. We have chapter threads for discussWomen and Men began as a reading group for Joseph McElroy's masterpiece. It has developed into All Things McElroy. We have chapter threads for discussing his mammoth novel, but no reading schedule. We now have threads too for discussing each of his books. Anyone who is interested in McElroy's work is welcome to join. No commitment required beyond a desire to understand Joe's work. ...more